1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a terminal holding structure of a flat circuit body such as a flexible flat cable (FFC) and a flexible print circuit (FPC).
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, in the case where circuits are electrically connected with one another by using a flat circuit body such as FFC, a connector is attached to a terminal of the flat circuit body, and this connector is connected to a mating connector.
As a prior terminal holding structure of a flat circuit body, a technique shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, which is disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Registration No. 2549583, is known. As shown in FIG. 1, this terminal holding structure of a flat circuit body is such that terminals 1 are connected to conductors 3 at a terminal portion of FFC 2 (so-called piercing connection), and as shown in FIG. 2, the terminals 1 are housed in respective terminal housing chamber 4A of a connector housing 4. Slits 2A are formed between the conductors 3 at the terminal of the FFC 2 so that substantially whole of the terminals 1 are housed in the terminal housing chambers 4A of the connector housing 4.
However, in the above-mentioned prior technique, for example when a wire harness is manufactured and assembled, an external force is easily applied to the connection portions between the terminals 1 and FFC 2 due to grinding of FFC 2. As a result, the terminals 1 and the conductors 3 at the connection portions are possibly deformed or broken. For this reason, at the step of manufacturing or assembling a wire harness using FFC2, it is necessary to pay attention to its handling so that excessive tension is not applied to FFC 2.
The present invention has been achieved with such points in mind.
It therefore is an object of the present invention to provide a terminal holding structure of a flat circuit body in which connection portions between terminals and a flat circuit body can be protected and deformation and breakage of conductors are prevented.
According to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a terminal holding structure of a flat circuit body, comprising: a flat circuit body includes: a plurality of conductors arranged with predetermined intervals; and insulating films for fixing the plural conductors so as to sandwich the plural conductors; a plurality of terminals provided on a terminal portion of the flat circuit body, the plural terminals being electrically connected to the plural conductors respectively; and a connector housing having a plurality of terminal housing chambers for housing the plural terminals, wherein the flat circuit body is formed with holding openings on portions on the terminal portion where the conductors are not located; and wherein the connector housing is detachably provided with a spacer which has engagement portions for engaging with the holding openings.
In the invention of the first aspect having such a structure, the terminals are held to be electrically connected to the conductors at the terminal portion of the flat circuit body. The spacer is attached to the connector housing, and the engagement portions of the spacer are engaged into the holding openings formed on the flat circuit body so as to hold the flat circuit body. Since the flat circuit body is held at the engagement portions of the spacer, even if an external force is applied to the flat circuit body, the external force is applied to the insulating films so as not to influence the conductors. As a result, deformation, breakage and the like of the conductors can be prevented, and the terminal holding structure of the flat circuit body with high durability can be obtained.
A second aspect of the present invention provides the terminal holding structure of the flat circuit body according to the first aspect, wherein the holding openings are holding holes which are opened on the insulating films on both sides of the respective conductors of the flat circuit body.
Therefore, according to the second aspect, since the, holding openings are holding holes, the holding openings can be formed on the terminal portion of the flat circuit body easily. Moreover, since the holding openings are formed on both sides of the conductors at the terminal portion of the flat circuit body, an external force which was applied to the flat circuit body in its whole widthwise direction can be unified. An influence upon the conductors can be decreased as small as possible.
A third aspect of the present invention provides the terminal holding structure of the flat circuit body depending from the first aspect, wherein: the spacer has: partition walls being arranged in positions corresponding to the holding openings to serve as engagement portions with the holding openings; and a worktop formed integrally with the partition walls; and the connector housing is formed with a spacer attachment hole for attaching the spacer.
Therefore, according to the third aspect, the partition walls of the spacer are first inserted into the spacer attachment hole of the connector housing and the worktop is pushed from outside so that the spacer can be attached extremely easily. For this reason, in a state that the terminal portion of the flat circuit body with which the terminals are previously connected are housed in the connector housing, the spacer is attached. As a result, the terminal holding structure of the flat circuit body can be formed quickly. Therefore, working time required for the assembly steps can be shortened.